Good News Headlines 1/13/2025
Photo courtesy Commander George Leigh, NOAA
Biden Bans Fossil Fuel Drilling Across 600 Million Acres Of U.S. Waters
by , HuffPost
President Biden has banned fossil fuel drilling across 600 million acres of US waters, permanently protecting coastal waters spanning the entire Atlantic and Pacific coasts, as well as the eastern Gulf of Mexico and 44 million acres of the Northern Bering Sea, off the coast of western Alaska. The sweeping protections are likely to survive the incoming Trump administration’s fossil fuel bonanza since the law does not include language giving presidents the authority to reverse such a withdrawal. Only Congress could lift such withdrawal.
Why Costco, Unlike McDonald’s And Walmart, Is Not Chickening Out By Rolling Back It’s DEI Initiatives
by Phenix S Halley, The Root
With President-elect Donald Trump making big plans to completely get rid of DEI, it seems like many corporations like McDonald’s are falling in line. But there’s one company in particular that’s taking a stance against Trump and all other anti-DEI nonsense and doubling down on their efforts to preserve diversity throughout its company. Bulk grocery franchise Costco adopted DEI practices years ago, and has no plans to change it up now! In fact, the company has been under immense pressure to scale back on DEI, but they’re sticking up for the company’s values in all ways possible.
All Chicago City Buildings Now Run On Renewable Energy
by Paige Bennett, EcoWatch
Chicago, Illinois is kicking off the New Year with clean energy. As of Jan. 1, all of Chicago’s 411 municipal buildings, such as its international airports, fire stations, libraries and City Hall, are now powered entirely by renewable energy. The feat has been made possible through a 5-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Constellation signed in August 2022, the Chicago Tribune reported. “Every Chicagoan interacts with a city-owned building, whether the cultural center, City Hall, Harold Washington Library, O’Hare and Midway (international airports) or your local library.
Biden Signs Bill To Boost Social Security Payments For Millions Of Public Workers
by The Guardian
Joe Biden has signed into law a measure that boosts social security payments for current and former public employees – such as teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public-service workers – in what the White House has described as the first expansion of such benefits in 20 years. “The bill I’m signing today is about a simple proposition: Americans who have worked hard all their lives … should be able to retire with economic security and dignity,” the president said. “That’s the entire purpose of the social security system crafted by Franklin Delano Roosevelt nearly 90 years ago.”
Coffee Drinkers Reap Health Boost – But Only If They Do It In The Morning
by Ian Sample, The Guardian
People who get their coffee hit in the morning reap benefits that are not seen in those who have shots later in the day, according to the first major study into the health benefits of the drink at different times. Analysis of the coffee consumption of more than 40,000 adults found that morning coffee drinkers were 16% less likely to die of any cause and 31% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease during a 10-year follow-up period than those who went without. But the benefits to heart health appeared to vanish in people who drank coffee throughout the day.
